Doughnut or donut?

If you’re anything like me you will have noticed that in the last few years donuts have blown up! First it was just Krispy Kreme coming the UK, I remember making the pilgrimage from Carlisle where I went to university all the way to Newcastle to experience my first taste of Krispy Kreme deliciousness. Fast forward 7 years and donuts are everywhere! Gone are the days where you have a choice of custard or jam filled in a bag “fresh” from the supermarket, donuts have evolved and we’re loving it!

My favourite donuts are form Donut Time and sadly they are only available in London here in the UK. When I lived in Sydney I could pop into any mall and grab my donut fix. I can see why donuts have taken over cupcakes in popularity, a few years ago everyone was crazy for cupcake, but cupcakes are a little more tricky to eat, you can never get a good frosting to cake ratio in one bite. But with donuts you get all that flavour in one bite and less mess.

Whats Eating Manchester – Glazed Donuts

These donuts are a combination of a few recipes that I have tried out recently. I have yet to find a recipe that has everything that I want so I have spent some time Frankensteining it up in the kitchen to produce what I think is the ultimate donut. I like chocolate/caramel rich flavours in my baking, but I can’t eat much of those without feeling a little queasy, I much prefer a fruit flavour dessert, I think the tart and sweet combination gives you a much more pleasing balance to the palate and less likely to be sickly. Having said that you could always experiment with the topping, the donuts themselves are just a plain buttermilk donut so essentially you can add whatever topping you want, go crazy.

These donuts are beautifully soft and moist, baked not fried so they are a little bit healthier than their deep-fried counterpart. Slightly vanilla flavoured and so moorish. The topping is a mixed black fruit glaze with a little lemon and vanilla to just lift the flavour. They are gorgeously glossy and the colour is so vibrant they will definitely be a showstopper. They would be perfect for your next afternoon tea or something extra special for a party, you could even make smaller ones for a child’s party for a little bit less guilt. If you make your own you know how much sugar has gone into them and of course they are baked and not fried.

Tips

You don’t have to use black fruits, I just got a black fruit frozen mix because I wanted blackberries and they didn’t have them. Try raspberries or strawberries for a wonderfully bright pink glaze.

Frozen fruit works just as well as fresh and is much cheaper.

I bought buttermilk from the polish section in Asda here in the UK. You can’t usually find it here. You can make your own alternative if you can’t find it by combining milk with a few tablespoons of lemon juice and leaving it at room temperature for 5-10 min.

You really do need a donut pan to get those perfect rings. I got mine from Amazon for £6, after a complete fiasco trying to get a set from eBay which never turned up. I also tried every shop I could think of but no where seems to stock them. eBay was the cheaper option but again mine didn’t arrive so Amazon seems to be the winner for this. You can purchase the one I have on amazon Here.

Don’t over bake you donuts, you want they to be just golden and still beautifully soft and moist. Test them with a skewer to make sure they are ready inside. Insert the skewer and if it comes out clean they are fully cooked.

Method – for the donuts

In another bowl, give the eggs a quick whisk with a fork and add the melted butter, vanilla and butter milk. Whisk all these together and add to the dry ingredients.

Beat everything together either by hand or using an electric mixer.

Divide the batter evenly into between the pans, for this you can either use a spoon or scoop your batter into a zip lock bag, snip off the corner and use it as a piping bag. I used an actual piping bag because I have thousands of disposable ones around the house.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, once baked let cook and transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.

Method – for the glaze

In a saucepan, on a medium heat, add all the ingredients, with the exception of the cream.

Let the mixture boil down and reduce until think and glossy, about 20 min. If your mix is looking a little dry or like there isn’t enough liquid add a few teaspoons of water just to help it along.

Let the mixture cool for 5 min then using a potato masher, crush up all the fruit.

Transfer the fruit to a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and use a spoon to push the fruit through the sieve.

Add the cream to the sieved glaze and stir well.

Leave everything to cool completely.

(optional) For an icing drizzle combine the milk and the icing sugar, add the milk 1tsp at a time and mix well. When the icing is the right consistency to pipe it is ready.

Method – decorating the donuts

When everything is cooled dip your donuts into the glaze so that just one side is covered. Leave on a wire rack.

Place your icing into a piping bag or a zip lock bag and cut the corner off. Pipe the icing in lines on the donuts.

Top them off with a fresh blackberry if you really want that extra instagramable factor.

Whats Eating Manchester – Glazed Donuts

And there you go. Healthier baked not fried showstopper donuts. And you can really make this recipe your own, experiment with different glazes and different flavours of donut. And don’t forget if you try these at home to let me know by tagging @whatseatingmanchester in your social media post!

Welcome

Morning Campers!
Lovely to have you here. I'm Sarah and I'm the brains behind WhatsEatingManchester. I am a full time photographer and part time food fanatic. I have held every job in the restaurant business and food is what I do. I created WhatsEatingManchester as a place to bring together and share all my favourite recipes and images.